


Five Things (To Prove Drift Compatibility)

by tielan



Series: Fire And Ice: MCU Jaeger AU [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 5 Things, 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Jaegers, Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Drift Compatibility, Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Trope: In Another Man's Shoes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-07-09 04:22:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19881565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/pseuds/tielan
Summary: Two women and the echoes of compatibility between them.





	1. Kwoon

**Author's Note:**

> For my [2019 Trope Bingo Box](https://tielan.dreamwidth.org/1172262.html): "In Another Man's Shoes".

Maria is both sorry and not-sorry to be leaving Hong Kong.

On one hand, she resents being shuffled elsewhere, like the red-headed stepchild that nobody wants. On the other, the last couple of months have been the perfect storm of crises and she needs to be somewhere else for a while.

Somewhere else turns out to be the Anchorage Shatterdome, under Stacker Pentecost.

Maria likes Pentecost; he reminds her of Fury in a great many ways, not just in the dominating physical presence or their unrepentant blackness, but in the stern exterior that covers over a complex psyche, and their almost mother-hen-like protectiveness towards ‘their people’.

Not that she’d say that to either Fury or Pentecost; she has some sense of professional preservation remaining.

Pentecost doesn’t mince words during the application meeting.

“Commander, I’ve been informed – one might even say ‘warned’ – that you’re a corrupting element in the corps, prone to stirring up discontent and rebellion among Shatterdome personnel.”

The accusation freezes her for a moment, sick bitterness washing acid through her mouth. So that’s how Rumlow and Rollins are going to play it then?

It's not Maria's fault that the J-techs among the corps heard about what went down at the bar and decided to take action. She didn’t talk about it, didn’t complain about, and when Scott Summers mentioned seeing her come in early that night, she deliberately downplayed both the fact that Steve had basically carried her to bed and the reason that she was completely out of it by midnight on a Friday.

Somehow – and Maria isn’t pointing any fingers, because Pepper isn’t the tattling kind – the corps either heard or worked out the confrontation between her and the pilots. And after that night, the Shatterdome techs did the work on _Serpent’s Snarl_ to spec. _Precisely_ to spec and _exactly_ when it needed to be done. No efforts were skimped – although overtime would be put in if a crew member of _Serpent’s Snarl_ requested work of the specific tech group – but the unreported overtime put in on the Jaeger dropped like a stone.

The pilots might be the pretty face of the Jaeger program, but the technicians and mechanics of the Shatterdome J-corps were the beating heart that kept everything going. And the message was clear enough: _fuck with one of us and we will fuck with you._

It wasn’t that Maria didn’t appreciate the solidarity – although not so much the eyebrows that arched and waggled when it came to the bit about Steve carrying her to bed – but it made things difficult for her with Rumlow and Rollins.

So when the announcement went out about Stacker Pentecost’s elevation to Marshal of the PPDC and his assignation to take over Anchorage after Anjij Tikalaaq stepped down to take up a role as elder to her Nunavut tribe, Maria was contemplating putting her name in for a transfer...and then found that Tendo Choi had done it for her.

 _Don’t gimme that face,_ he said when she found out. _I wasn’t sure you’d light the spark or not. Pentecost is good people – always was. Plus I want at least one person in the Icebox who I know can snub a politician without either smirking or breaking a sweat._

Pentecost is watching her, so Maria pulls herself together. She is _not_ going to fall apart just because Rumlow and Rollins are trying to get her fired.

“Do I get to face my accusers, at least?”

“No.” The negative is flat, without lenience. Then something flickers across his face as he adds, “They’re not that brave.”

Maria blinks as she realises that this isn’t a dressing down or a point of contention; this is Pentecost letting her know what’s going on behind her back.

He’s on her side in this matter which…blows her mind.

“Both Fury and Uchibori have reported that your work is better than standard – Uchibori was extremely pleased by the professionalism you showed during the repairs to _Phoenix Fire_ while under stress. Matter of fact, your application for transfer means I’m on her shitlist for ‘stealing one of her best people’. Your fellow Floor Commanders speak well of your competence – on both sides of the Pacific – and I’ve already spoken about the loyalty of the Shatterdome J-corps.”

Now her skin is hot. “I’ve just done my job, sir.”

“The fact that you’ve ‘just done your job’ is the chief reason that the PPDC continues to employ you, Commander Hill.” Pentecost waves a hand at the Shatterdome below. “We are all employed because we continue to do the job in whatever measure we deem best. But doing it so that those immediately around you appreciate it? That’s something else.” He stands and offers her his hand to shake. “Consider yourself transferred. You have six weeks.”

* * *

Maria is pleased when Pepper is at the Kwoon at 0600 hours, even if her friend looks tired and more than a little grumpy. Well, it’s not surprising given the early hour and the chill that pervades even this far into the Shatterdome. There's a definite reason Anchorage is known as 'the Icebox'.

"Why did I agree to this?"

"Because you're a masochist."

"What's that thing we used to say as kids? Takes one to know one."

Maria grins. "Keep stretching."

"You know it's not the stretching, it's the early hour... Ugh!"

And with that exclamation, Pepper plants her bare feet on the edges of the mat and flops down so her hands are trailing on the floor. In spite of the casual move, Maria notes that the other woman's palms are nearly flat against the mats, and she's breathing through the stretch.

She copies the movement - maybe she finds it a little easier to flatten her palms against the floor - at least for a split second or two - but she's done these stretches every morning for the last five years, while Pepper's been doing yoga or pilates, both of which are excellent for core strength but probably not quite on the same level as martial arts.

"Have I told you lately that I hate you?"

Maria snorts as she stands up, sets her shoulders back and starts stretching her shoulders and waist. Kwoon requires the use of the entire body in a full range of movement, and it's very necessary to be warmed up and stretched before engaging in any actual staff-fighting.

"So," Pepper says as she stands up straight and reaches her arms above her head, "how's it going working for the PPDC's newest Marshall? I heard that Pentecost is hard to work with."

Maria thinks about it. "He's demanding," she said, "but pretty fair. I think the consensus among the Shatterdome Commanders is that the man doesn't actually sleep."

"I heard someone say he was born in the uniform and it never comes off." Pepper's smile is thin but also contains teeth as she adds, "Of course, this is the same person who still persists in treating me like a glorified secretary."

"Why is he still alive?"

"Because I'm bankrupting him in a year."

The statement is off-hand but heart-felt, and Maria eyes her friend and grins. "You almost make me wish I was in the private sector."

"That can be easily remedied, you know."

Maria ignores the blatant attempt to poach her - yet again - for Stark Industries. "Pentecost has an impressive drive. He's up at all hours, and the only times anyone's ever seen him in anything but the uniform is in the Kwoon, and once on a flight to Hawaii." The _Lucky Seven_ crew member had quipped that if not for the tiny Japanese girl following Pentecost around, he'd have thought it was the Marshall's evil twin.

"Kwoon? Wait, Pentecost does _this_?" Pepper makes a laughing face.

"He _was_ a Mark I Jaeger pilot."

"Which seems even less believable - what person would be Drift-compatible with someone as driven as him?"

Maria used to think the same, and then she read up on Tamsin Sevier. "An openly lesbian female combat fighter pilot with the RAF who flew against Trespasser in San Francisco, 2014."

It's probably not nice to watch Pepper choke, but it's amusing all the same.

"So," she continues when Pepper manages to get herself back under control, "are you ready to spar?"

"Only if you go gently on me. You know I'm not trained in this."

"It's not a fight to be won," Maria reminds her, "it's a dialogue where you're trying to speak with your partner."

"Really? A dialogue? What does _that_ mean when we're talking about martial arts?"

"When you work it out, tell me. I've never felt it myself."

"So you never found anyone who you were Drift compatible with?"

"No. But I didn't try very hard. The jumphawk squads were more my style when I started with the PPDC."

"But you ended up a Shatterdome Floor Commander?"

"And you ended up CEO of Stark Industries."

"Touche." Pepper holds up her _bo_ with both hands, angled across her body in classic defence. Maria figures she's probably going to have to do most of the attacking, when Pepper drops into a fluid swipe that Maria's moving to block before her conscious mind has had time to process Pepper's attack. She jabs the upward end of her _bo_ at Pepper's face and Pepper jerks back, disengaging. They move back and forth across the mat, evently matched. Maria's stronger, better trained, but Pepper has some moves that surprise. Both of them get points against the other and the bouts run long and laughing.

By the time they slow and stop, in silent, mutual agreement, Maria's breath is short and her skin is slick with sweat - it's been way too long since she did this, especially with a partner whose style matches her own. The burst of applause surprises her, though - she didn't even notice they'd acquired an audience. There are some pilots come to tune in to each other, some personnel who just like the exercise. She glimpses Sergio D'Onofrio and Caitlin Lightcap talking with Marshall Pentecost, and Pentecost gives her a brief nod without a smile. The smile is more than made up for in Yancy Becket's broad grin with accompanying thumbs up while his brother is trying to chat up one of the Shatterdome techs who's applauding along with the others who were watching.

Pepper turns and catches her eye, and they turn in concert and take a bow, then step off the mat to let others take their turn.

"That was fun," Pepper says as they set their _bo_ back into the holder and collect their gear - kwoon is done without shoes or jacket, and since it's not a fight, it can be done in just about anything that allows for a range of movement. "I didn't think it would be."

"Why not?"

Sitting down on the wooden bench in the corridor, Pepper pauses. She puts her shoes down on the ground and frowns a little. "I guess because I never enjoyed it much before. It's a bit like dancing, isn't it?" Then she makes a face. "Although kwoon with Tony is very much _not_ like dancing with Tony."

Maria snorts as she laces up her boots. "I'm not sure I want to imagine either kwoon or dancing with Tony."

Pepper's smile is luminous. "He has his good points."

"If you say so." Maria stomps her feet into her boots. "When's your flight out to LA?"

"Three hours."

"More than enough time for breakfast."

“And no fainting.”

“It was _once_ under trying circumstances! _”_

“I know.” Pepper tilts her head and a smirk peeps at the corner of her mouth. “Are you going to make a fuss about washing first?”

“No,” Maria tells her. “Let’s do now.”


	2. Playlist

Maria is on the flight to Lima when Pepper is patched through.

"What's up?"

"Why are you going to Lima?"

"Because three of their Floor Commanders are down with the bird flu, and I'm the only possible replacement who's had the innoculation _and_ can leave her station without leaving major catastophe behind." Maria eyes the two young men in the seat opposite her. "Also, someone needs to make sure the Beckets behave."

Raleigh Becket grins. His brother Yancy smirks and stretches, all young, limber muscle and youthful arrogance. "You'd have to keep us on a closer leash for that, Commander!"

"Don't tempt me."

Blue eyes widen and he dimples. “Ooh, Commander!”

Then he blushes as Maria gives him a very straight, very thoughtful look. Frankly, if she took Yancy Becket up on his near-constant flirtation, he'd probably freak. She's half again his age, even if she is his physical type.

"I thought the Beckets were pretty good - just high spirited."

"Like, Tony, for instance?"

“Well, I suppose I do sometimes need to keep him on a leash...”

“More than I ever wanted to know!”

Pepper laughs on the other end of the phone. "Has Rhodey called you lately?"

"Just the other day. He wanted my opinion on a tech that was applying to join _Steel Patriot'_ s crew." And they spent nearly an hour on the phone, gossiping about not only the tech, but also the bits and pieces that were going on around the PPDC.

Maria still hasn't decided if she's going to take Rhodey up on his flirtation. He's not a boy like Yancy to rush straight in, he's a mature man, with experience and consideration under his belt - among other things. And she likes him, thinks he'd probably be a very tender, considerate lover, but...

She was burned by Steve nearly eighteen months ago, four months after leaving Hong Kong she's still on Rumlow and Rollins' shitlist, and she's the Shatterdome employee responsible for getting the Jaegers maintained, fixed, repaired, and out into the ocean every time the _kaiju_ attack. Starting up a relationship with another pilot is just... She doesn't think she can go through all that again.

The worst part of it is that whatever she decided, she suspects Rhodey would be understanding, accepting, and continue to be her friend. Which would make her feel bad - just not bad enough to date him.

How the man is Drift compatible with Tony Stark is still beyond Maria's comprehension.

"Well, there's a Stark Industries dinner in L.A. in six weeks - and I'd like you to attend."

"We've had this discussion about the dark side before."

"We have cookies," Pepper says solemnly. "But no, this isn't specifically about trying to poach you--"

"Just generally?"

"Shush. It's a dinner for people who've helped improve our processes, to make us a better company. And you picked up on the Stinger technology's failings long before they failed in the field."

"Pepper--"

"Remember the part where I said 'shush'?" Maria subsides because she knows that tone of voice. After a moment, Pepper continues. "You prompted us to rewrite our procedures for technology and research coming out of the labs. And it's one of the things that boosted our quality as high as it is - we were always good, but now we're _really_ good. And that's because of you."

"Can't I just get a plaque?"

"You will get a plaque...in front of a lot of other people at a fancy dinner." Pepper sounds brisk. "Don't make me send the jet down for you, Maria."

And Pepper would, too. "It coincides with the launch of the new Jaegers for the quarter."

"Then I don't even need to send the jet; you can get a transport to L.A., oversee the new launch, and come up for the presentation dinner."

Maria sighs. There's no arguing with Pepper when she's in full CEO mode - which, yes, Maria knows she's exactly the same when it comes to Shatterdome Floor operations but it's irritating to be in this position. Nevertheless, she gives in to the inevitable. "I have nothing to wear to a Stark Industries presentation except my uniform." She glares at Yancy, who's just put up his hand, points a finger at him and lowers it. He pouts, but lowers his arm. Meanwhile, his brother elbows him and hisses something that Maria can't hear but which probably amounts to ' _I can't believe you're doing this_.'

"I'll take you clothes shopping beforehand." Pepper says bluntly. "Somewhere good. It won't be awful, I promise."

"You can't promise that," Maria argues.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I can."

Maria rings off with the feeling that she's been conned into something, but not quite willing to kick up a fuss about it. She puts the phone away and prepares to deal with the Beckets. Raleigh has picked up a magazine on Jaeger engineering, but Yancy is watching her with a look she recognises.

She supposes if his crush or lust or whatever this is had to come to a head, then twenty-thousand feet in the air is not a terrible place. At least there'll be only his brother to see, and she's pretty sure he has enough good-humour to handle rejection gently - or, at least, laugh it off.

But does the universe have it in for her with Jaeger pilots or what?

"Have you worked in Lima before, Commander?"

"For a few months back in 2016," she tells Yancy.

"So you know the city?"

"More or less. It's probably changed a lot since the Shatterdome first went up." Cities rebuilt themselves around the Shatterdomes as people began to utilise the space around them differently, from the locals that commuted in to work from around the city, to the drinking and food establishments that sprung up catering to the tastes of the personnel from out of town. "Why?"

"Considering you know the city...I thought you might be willing to show us around."

In the seat beside his brother, Raleigh Becket rolls his eyes with all the force of a seventeen year old's exasperation. Maria finds that oddly comforting - perhaps because it suggests that for all the intensity to Yancy's flirting, his brother will keep him on an even keel. "Got a a shortage of people willing to show you a good time, Mr. Becket? That seems highly unlikely."

He doesn't back down, doesn't stutter that he didn't mean it the way she took it. If anything, his grin becomes wider and more confiding as he says, "Right now? A very serious shortage, Commander. Which is why I'm asking you."

"The shortage may be serious, but it's also temporary. In just over eight hours, there'll be a whole city of young women more than willing to show you around." Whether it's around the city or around them.

“What if I want _you_ to show _me_ around?”

Maria half-laughs, although she’s a little uneasy. This has just gone from amusing to awkward and she’s not sure how it’s going to end. “Then you’re going to end up disappointed, Mr. Becket. I’m here to do my job – that doesn’t involve escorting Jaeger pilots around to see the sights.”

“This would be off the job.”

“Yancy.” His brother lifts his eyes to heaven. “She’s not interested.”

Yancy flushes and elbows his brother. “I’m just fixing to change her mind, that’s all.”

Raleigh makes a noise like a snort. “You’re just fixing to be a pest. Isn’t he, Commander?”

“On his way,” Maria agrees. “But…he’s not there yet. I appreciate the compliment, Ranger. But, no.”

“No?”

“No is a complete sentence!”

Yancy turns on his brother at the sing-song comment. “Why do I put up with you?”

“Because we’re drift-compatible?”

“Okay,” Yancy says with a put-upon sigh, “so if you’re not going to take the time to know me, _Maria_ , can you at least recommend a good drinking place?”

Maria relaxes a little. This is more up her alley. “ _The Cephalopod’s Revenge_.”

Both Beckets stare at her. Then Raleigh breaks into a grin. “They called a bar _The Cephalopod’s Revenge_?”

“Yep. It’s quirky, but good.”

“With a name like that, it’d better be!”

“And you’re sure you don’t want to come with?”

“I’m sure you’ll want to explore the area yourselves.”

“That’s code for ‘stop digging that hole’, Yancy.” Raleigh says. “I’m sorry, commander. Sometimes we let him out without his muzzle. It’s never pretty.”

Yancy is old enough to sneer at his brother rather than start a fight, but Maria sees the moment he thinks about fighting before deciding he’s going to be grown up about this. And this is precisely why she wouldn’t go anywhere near Yancy Becket like that. He’s just so…young. 

"So," Yancy says after a while, "you're going to be in Lima until the bird flu is done, right?"

Maria eyes him. "Yes."

"And then you'll head back to the Icebox? Detouring through L.A. for the Stark Industries dinner thingy that Ms. Potts wants to take you to?"

"Maybe."

"So you'll be there for the launch of _Titanium Stiletto!_ It's said to be the deadliest of the new range of Jaegers - the blade extension on it is supposed to go through _kaiju_ flesh like a knife."

"A stiletto _is_ a kind of knife, you know." Maria doesn't know a lot about the specs for the Jaeger - she supposes she'd better read up on the new ones coming in, and get a good look at the tech specs. Maybe get in contact with the head of SI R&D. It helps to be prepared for her crises.

"I heard that the PPDC is contemplating an unusual pilot pair for it," Raleigh offered.

“Where’d you hear that?”

“Pentecost and Ranger D’onofrio were talking about it.” He shrugs. “Pentecost was expressing doubts; but D’Onofrio said that the maturity and combined experience might be worth the trade-off.”

“Trade off for what?”

“I didn’t hear that part.” The kid doesn't quite squirm, but it's close. “Look, I didn’t want it to be too obvious that I was listening in, okay?”

“Why were you listening in the first place?” Maria watches Raleigh blush and decides to have mercy on him. “I don’t keep up with the pilot prospectives, mostly because it's not as though I get a say in them. That's up to the PPDC - and the Jaeger."

“ _And_ the Jaeger?”

“So you’re one of the ones that believes the Jaeger picks the pilots?”

Maria regard's Yancy's incredulous expression with some amusement. No, it's not what people expect of her, but it's what she believes. “Let's just say I’m open to the prospect.”

“Most people are very skeptical about Jaeger sentience.”

“Well, most people haven’t seen the operational difference between sets of pilots when a Jaeger attunes to one set but not another.” The Beckets exchange grins. “What?”

“I told you,” Yancy says to Raleigh triumphantly. “She’s a believer.”

–

Upon arrival at Lima, Maria ushers the Beckets off to the duty watch for check-in. All guests and visitors are required to check in upon arrival at a Shatterdome, so they have an idea of who's on site should a _kaiju_ attack. It's not just a matter of keeping track of people, either - having one more person who knows how to scramble a Jaeger into the ocean, or who can sub into a Jumphawk crew makes a difference if it comes down to a fight with the kaiju.

The duty watch signs them in, and while the Beckets are ribbing each other about signatures and putative ability to write their names legibly,

"You'll be coming to our welcome party, right?" Yancy's expression is doubtless his most winsome - the kind that melts the hearts of teenaged girls across the planet. It's been a while since Maria was a teenage girl, and she's still charmed.

Not that 'charmed by' is anything remotely close to 'attracted to'.

"I don't think I could avoid it, even if I wanted to," she points out dryly. "So, yes, I'll be there."

Raleigh wrestles his brother away before Yancy's face can fall too far. "Thanks, Commander!"

Maria watches them go, shakes her head, re-shoulders her satchel, and goes looking for Phil.

It's not difficult to find him - unlike most of the other Shatterdomes, Lima was built for the purpose of housing, maintaining, and repairing Jaegers and all the support crew they'd need. As a result, offices are neatly organised, close to where they need to be, and clearly marked, unlike the rabbit warren that's the Hong Kong Shatterdome.

She finds him riffling through virtual paperwork, looking for something elusive and specific and clearly unable to find it.

"I can come back later," she quips when she pauses in the doorway and he growls that this better be important.

Phil looks up. "Maria? Weren't you supposed to be arriving tomorrow?"

"You sure it's not already tomorrow?"

He checks his watch, which she finds vaguely amusing. Then he shakes his head. "You must have come in on the transport..."

"With the Beckets," she said. "Who are all ready and raring to be called back onto duty."

"I imagine they are." Phil gestures her into a chair. "Honestly, it's been a madhouse around here. Thanks for coming in."

"When was the last time you got off-duty?"

"Does sleeping count?"

"No."

The fact that Phil has to mentally count the days in his head gives Maria a good indication of just how hard he and the other Floor Commanders have been running the last few days. Phil is usually cool, sharp, and unflappable - although Maria's seen him run the full gamut of emotion in her years of knowing him - so being discombobulated about something as simple as his schedule is a worry.

"Four days ago. I think." He scratches at his head. "Maybe?”

Maria shook her head. “When do you come off? And where am I likely to find the Marshal right now? I should report in.”

Phil blew out a long breath. “Anneka is probably up in LOCCENT, dealing with shit. Frankly, I’m surprised she doesn’t sleep there.”

“While I’m surprised that you’re awake and upright.” Maria glances out down the corridor and then closes the door behind her. “Anything I can help with seeing as I won’t be put on a schedule for at least twenty-four hours? Something that won’t require foreknowledge of the Dome or what’s going on around here?”

Phil stares at her for a moment, frowning slightly, then almost shakes himself awake. “Actually, I have—Would you believe I do?” Pulling open a drawer on his side of the desk, he riffles through stashed papers and loose pens until he finds an ancient tablet. “Welcoming party for the Beckets tonight. It’s traditional that the Shatterdome Floor Commanders pick the tunes for the first two hours.”

“It’s what?” Maria stares at Phil.

“To give the pilots and their crews an idea of the Commanders they’ll be dealing with. You pick music. It won’t all get used – someone compiles it into a playlist and sets it to shuffle – but choose a couple of dozen party favourites and it goes in the bag.”

“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of.”

Phil shrugs. “Ridiculous or not, it’s the custom around here. So the pilots get an idea of the Commander personalities they’ll be dealing with.”

“Because a playlist indicates personalities so well?”

“Hey, Estelle Lorenciaga chose 2 piano concertos by Mozart and one of the Brandenburgs, and we got all three when _Diablo Intercept_ arrived...”

“Phil, I can’t pick your tunes!”

“Why not?” Phil gathers up a sheaf of papers, flicks through them, then clips it together and tosses it into his ‘out’ tray. “You know my music tastes well enough. But you can pick your own, too, while you’re at it.”

Maria stares at the tablet, which has opened to one of the popular online music apps. Displayed is a selection of tunes – modern music, current pop hits that she doesn’t recognise and probably wouldn’t want to, none of it her scene at all. She flicks back to the main menu, clicks through a couple of categories until she starts to find music that speaks to her – the songs of her childhood and adolescence. Pop and rock hits of the 80s and 90s, even some hardcore 70s rock.

The Goo Goo Dolls are out, Queen is in. AC/DC and Bon Jovi, Springsteen, Madonna, and the Eurythmics all get a look-in. She picks out _Beds Are Burning_ by Midnight Oil, which she developed a taste for while working alongside _Lucky 7_ ’s crew, and, okay, there's a little bit of Whitney because who doesn’t want to dance with somebody who loves them? Then, because the combination of Australian rock and dancing makes her think of the businessman she never contacted after that night in Hong Kong, she adds, _You Call Me A Bitch Like It’s A Bad Thing_ by Halestorm and _I Don’t Feel Like Dancing_ by the Scissor Sisters. She finishes it off with a couple of catchy pieces from the early 00s.

By the time she’s finished, she’s feeling a little more upbeat than would usually be expected of someone stepping off an eight hour flight.

So she picks out ‘Phil’s Playlist’. It tends a few decades earlier than hers, even if he's only a dozen years older – he has a love of classic 50s beats, as well as the Beatles and the protest songs. And just for fun, she puts in a couple of cello pieces - a concerto that she knows he likes, and a couple of cellists who do impressive covers to popular songs.

“All done?” Phil seems to be a little more on the ball now. He takes the tablet from her, scrolls through her choices for him, hums a few times, and blinks at least once. " _Bad Romance_ by Two Cellos?"

Maria gives him a sheepish grin. He rolls his eyes, but just turns off the screen of the tablet, setting it down on the desk.

"Okay, I can go through that later I guess." Phil sighs as he sits back in his chair. "How's things at Anchorage?"

"Pretty good. Pentecost is tough but fair and Tendo's good value. The Shatterdome personnel are solid, and the current set of J-crews station there aren't assholes."

"That's very important."

"Very."

Rumlow and Rollins appear to have stopped making difficulty for her, but Maria distrusts the detente. In spite of her twitting Pepper about poaching her, she might have to end up in the private sector if the pilots of _Serpent's Snarl_ manage to get her turfed out as they were trying to do. And even with her work record, there's no guarantees so long as Alexander Pierce is Secretary General of the PPDC.

Phil nods, almost absent-mindedly. "Have you thought about reapplying to go back to L.A.?"

Thought about? Yes. Acted upon? No. "I didn't think there were any spaces available for floaters right now." Priority is given to locals - both in terms of area and in terms of country. As an American national, Maria would get priority over someone equally qualified in a Shatterdome on American soil, but she's also a single woman with no responsibilities that keep her tied to a single Shatterdome. The current Floor Commanders in L.A. are all local to the southwest, and being able to work close to home allows them more time to see their families.

Maria doesn't mind being a troubleshooter; she gets to work in different Shatterdomes and meet interesting people, even if the people she considers her friends are flung all around the Pacific Rim.

It's not an easy life, but it's _her_ life.

"I'm pretty sure Fury would take you back in an instant."

"There'd have to be a place available." Maria smiles wryly. "Have you heard of anything opening up?"

"No, but I heard that Pepper Potts has been trying to poach you for Stark Industries."

He stares very hard at her, and Maria bites back a laugh. Her friends all seem to think that she’s one crisis away from going to work for Stark Industries when the truth is that she’d rather fight a _kaiju_ first. It’s not that she doesn’t like Pepper, it’s just that the prospect of corporate bores her to tears.

"Pepper's been trying to poach me for Stark Industries pretty much since we first met." Maria appreciates the compliment, but as she always tells Pepper, she's just not interested in jumping ship. "Maybe when the war is done."


	3. Synchronicity

The Hong Kong Shatterdome Floor is in full party mode as Maria finishes up the consult with Scott.

She can hear the music pumping as they cross the walkway towards LOCCENT, the chatter and hum of conversations held over and under the blare of music. Chances are the Australians have gotten hold of the playlist — it's _Nutbush City Limits_ by Tina Turner and the rhythmic stamp of feed and the cheers of the dancers is almost infectious.

"Going down?" She asks Scott as they skip the turnoff to LOCCENT and head towards living quarters.

"I'm on the morning shift tomorrow," he says. "But I might go for an hour or two. You?"

"I have a feeling that if I don't turn up, Alison will send someone to fetch me, and it'll probably be one of the Aussies."

Scott laughs. They all know the feeling of being 'recruited' by the Aussies. "Sounds like it'd be wiser to turn up."

"Than have someone drag me out? Oh yes," she says. with some feeling.

"At least Rumlow and Rollins have been moved on to Vladivostok," Scott murmurs, glancing around as though to check that nobody else is around them. "I wouldn't have asked you to come here for the work review otherwise."

Maria thinks of all the things she could say about the duo who made her life hell — and are still spoiling for a fight, from all sounds. She chooses not to comment; take the high ground, don't concede it. "I guess there's no need to aks how the Wei Tang Clan are settling in?"

"Not really. They're good kids; responsible, solid in the Conn-Pod, dry sense of humor. Frankly, it's a delight to have a pilot grouping who aren't all heroism and gung-ho." Scott shakes his head. "Far too many risk jockeys around here."

"And another set about to launch."

"Speaking of which, you've been around the Rim a bit lately — any reason given why they've delayed the announcement of _Titanium_ 's pilots?"

"Probably because the Jaeger needed reconfiguration."

Scott shook his head, the downlights catching coppery glints in the waves of his hair. "That explains why she's not in rotation yet; it doesn't explain the dead silence on the choice of pilots."

"Maybe the bigwigs are arguing it over." Maria turned at the intersection of corridors heading towards the music. "Politics can be a big thing in pilot choice."

"You'd think we'd be past that by now."

" _You'd_ think." Maria puts the emphasis where it belongs. "Politicians don't."

He laughs and nudges her on the shoulder as they reach the Floor Party. "Good to see you, Maria."

"Same, Scott."

He makes a beeline for Jean and the people she's sitting with, and Maria turns to look for the faces she knows. Well, she knows nearly everyone here — the Shatterdome personnel haven't changed that much in the last six months since she worked here — but she's looking for her friends...

"Commander." Herc Hansen pauses in passing, his hands full of beers, his jawline looking rather more scruffy than she remembers it. "Didn't know you were in."

"Just a few hours," she tells him. "I'm off tomorrow with the dawn."

"Already heading back? Pity. If you get a few minutes tonight, we'll talk. Otherwise give Stacker my best." He half-lifts the beers to indicate that he's got to deliver them and strides off.

Other people pause to say hi, and she repeats herself over and over and feels complimented by the number of people who express disappointment at the brevity of her stay. She was just so damned exhausted after the fiasco with _Phoenix_ and Rumlow and Rollins' vendetta that she couldn't buck up the energy to go around saying goodbye to the Hong Kong crews, she just left with a general email farewell.

"Mars!" Alison Metisi hands her a beer and hip-bumps her. "Come on, we're over that way! How dare you leave so soon — we haven't even had a chance to chat — and Izzy's on the night shift, so she can't join us..."

"I've already arranged to meet her for deadwatch breakfast." She'll have enough time to chat, but probably not much more. And yeah, it means fewer hours of sleep, but Maria figures she has the whole flight back to Anchorage to sleep, and another 24 hours back in the home timezone before she's on roster again.

"So," Alison remarks, "I hear they've been bouncing you around the Rim the last two months. Lima, then Osaka for a week, now Hong Kong...and aren't you going to be in LA for the launch?"

"Apparently." Maria shakes her head. "At least LA is in the same timezone, crossing the IDL screws up my internal time sense."

"So say we all," Alison comments. "So how's things in Anchorage? Pentecost is keeping you busy? Is Choi still his faithful bitch?"

Maria comes close to spitting the mouthful of beer she just swallowed. "Never heard him described that way before."

"Well, you have now." Alison grins as she herds Maria back among the women of the Shatterdome, who greet her, take her beer away, hug her, return her beer, and gossip with her like no time has passed at all. It's more fun than Maria's had in a while — oh, the Shatterdome crew in Alaska is good, but she's only just starting to get to know them, unlike her friends in Hong Kong or even LA. So she doesn't at all regret the time spent here in exchange for sleep; she'll get her sleep later, she's going to be with friends now.

There's a dance floor marked off around the foot of Crimson Typhoon, and the floor is full of people milling around as they decided if they want to dance the next song or refill and rest. Alcohol is available out of a parts truck, and there are plenty of people in lines waiting for service. People are clustered in standing groups, although a few have pulled up workbenches and are seated on them in clusters, chatting animatedly.

"How's Potts?" Diz asks.

"She's fine. Still in LA. Busy trying to manage SI." Maria doesn't mention the dinner. It's not shame — not exactly. Sometimes she feels like Pepper's friendship puts a space between her and the other women she worked with in the Shatterdome. It's not that there's anything snooty about Pepper at all, but the woman lives a life that's so far different from the lives of Shatterdome workers that it's hard to imagine they intersect on any level.

The music around them is pumping, and she's just finishing her drink when Jess sets her glass down and says, "I've got me some nerves. I'm gonna get them out on the floor — anyone coming?"

Maria doesn't usually dance, but she figures why not? And she knows what Jess means about nerves and wanting to dance. The Nutbush is long gone and the Macarena was a while ago, but now there's 80s classic hits to rock to, synthesisers and keyboards, reverb and the bright, pop-music sounds of singers who have no cares in the world — certainly nothing as dire as alien monsters rising up from the deep.

As she files out onto the dance floor with the others, she looks around the floor and spots Melinda May up on one of the balconies, leaning against the balustrade. A little surprised — she didn't realise Melinda was in Hong Kong — she lifts a hand and indicates the party. A definitive shake of the head is her answer — May isn't going to budge. Well, Maria didn't really expect she would... She'll have to send May an email and maybe catch up that way.

She dances a little self-consciously, only too aware that these are people she'll probably have to work with at some point in the future, and that her dignity is on display. And, too, there's the time to consider. Maria checked the schedule; _Captain America_ is out on patrol tonight. Steve and Wilson aren't due back in the Shatterdome until 0100 hours. So long as she turns in by midnight, there’s no danger of bumping into them.

Maybe it's the beer, maybe it's the feeling of being among friends, but Maria begins to loosen up, feeling comfortable in her skin for the first time in she doesn’t know how long. And after a while she dances like nobody’s watching, the way she hasn’t danced since she was a child – her teenaged years full of too much awkward self-consciousness to do anything as gauche as _dancing_.

“Hey, Mars!” Alison bumps hips and points up at one of the balconies overlooking the dance floor. “Smile and wave for May!”

Maria checks – Melinda's filming this? Then she figures she’s already caught, she might as well bull it through, and does a little sarcastic wave at the camera. Melinda looks around the lens and her smile is droll and pleased, almost like old times.

The time whiles away and although Maria's aware that it's slipping past, like Cinderella, she doesn't think about it until her phone vibrates with a text message.

_Are you up?_

It's nearly 0200. Pumpkin time has come and gone. She's got a flight to catch in...three and a half hours and a breakfast with Izzy in two and a half. A couple of hours of sleep surely wouldn't go astray....

But she can manage a call to Pepper.

Dialling as she heads for one of the corridors leading out of the Jaeger Bays, she doesn't lead with pleasantries, just cuts to the chase. "Hey, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing much," Pepper says lightly. "I'm in the Shatterdome this morning, waiting for Tony and Rhodey to get in from post-patrol. I thought I'd give you a call — one of the LOCCENT techs mentioned that there was a party on in Hong Kong and I knew you were over there about some last handover things... Can you hear me okay?"

Maria turns the corner and opts to take the stairs instead of wait for the elevator. It's not quite shift change, but there's a bunch of people waiting and she doesn't feel like holding this conversation while standing around. Not to mention that the elevator is hell on the cell signal. "Flying back to Anchorage in the morning."

"That's pretty fast. Did you use your entire rest period for this?"

"No, it's work, so it's paid time. Half the flight time is paid — but I'll probably end up working on the flight." And...she's lost track of how many stairs she's climbed. Two? Three?

Stepping out into the corridor, she pauses.

"Maria?"

"Still here. Just contemplating ways to get back to guest quarters. " She can go up another floor and cross over, or she can head out here and down this corridor which passes by the Jaeger maintenance bay...She heads out towards the maintenance bay. There's a catwalk involved and there'll be less people this way.

"Any chance you can make it to LA on the way home?"

"I'll be there in three weeks, remember? For your dinner and presentation thing."

"We still have to buy you a dress."

"Pepper, I can buy a dress in Anchorage."

"Will it be boring and blue and look like you're going to work in a corporate office?"

Maria scowls. "No," she lies.

"This is why _we_ are buying you a dress, not _you_ are buying you a dress," Pepper says blithely. "Oh, and it looks like Tony and Rhodey are done— Tony!"

"Sorry, Maria," says Tony. "Call interrupted. Go do some paperwork, because Pepper's mine now."

"Tony, you can't just— Rhodey, help!"

"Aha! You're too late—" The call is ended, apparently before Rhodey can wrestle the phone off Tony and either return it to Pepper or talk into it.

Maria stares at the screen and shakes her head, bemused. She remembers the post-patrol rush — or, rather, she remembers experiencing it as the lover of a pilot. Steve had an edge after patrol, and once he was confident of Maria, he had no hesitation about blunting that edge in bed with her. It had been...exhausting, but kind of fun, too. Tender in a casual kind of way, like it didn't have to be momentous to mean something.

It's not that she misses Steve, exactly. Except that she does.

They talked the morning after the situation with Rumlow and Rollins. Out on the Kwoon mat with Pepper and Sam making polite conversation with each other and watching them like hawks.

_I wanted to say...I'm sorry. I was...I was so focused on losing Bucky, it didn't occur to me that I had more to lose until..._

_Until you fucked Lewis?_

He winced. _I'm sorry._

 _So am I._ Maria sighed. There was no point in rehashing this anymore. Case closed. Game over. Walk away and rebuild, like a city after the _kaiju_ has smashed it flat. _All right. Apology accepted, te absolvo. Go forth and sin no more._

_Maria..._

_No._ She knew what he was going to ask, knew what her answer had to be.

_I just want us to be friends._

_I think it's best that we stay...civil._

_All right._

It's been six months since she closed that door, let the wound scab over, didn't pick at it. Being in another Shatterdome helped; knowing that Pepper and her friends in the HK Shatterdome — had her back helped. Time and work and the chance to heal helped, too.

Now, she mostly misses Steve for...well...assorted reasons. The rosy glow of time has smoothed out the scrapes and pits made by the acid of betrayal, and paints her memory of their relationship in softer hues. And, Maria admits, it was a stroke to her ego to have a popular, good-hearted, wildly hot Jaeger pilot want her enough to demand that they be exclusive.

_What he did with Lewis was shit, but it wasn't the first time—_

She mentally stomps the foot of a Jaeger down on Rumlow and Rollins in her mind's eye. _Shush_.

Cheating wasn't Steve's style and whatever pot Rumlow and Rollins had been trying to stir, Maria wasn't going to taste it. Yes, he'd betrayed her with Darcy in the middle of grief and Drift psychosis, but Maria looked at it as cautionary: if it had been Steve who'd died, Bucky might well have come to her.

Maria huffs at herself, finding a wry amusement in her own nostsalgia. She _must_ be tired.

Pushing through a door that leads to a gantry over one of the maintenance bays, Maria pauses.

Steve is standing on the walkway, leaning back against the railing, staring out at the Jaeger in repair. He turns to see who it is and Maria sees him still, like the same quiver that's run through her body has run through his.

"Hey," he says as she approaches. "I heard you were in the Dome."

"Fly-by consult on the way back to the Icebox."

His gaze skims over her, almost like he's cataloguing the bags beneath her eyes, the weight she's lost and hasn't put back on in the last year, the tension strung all through her like wires buried beneath her skin, gently tightening. "Were you at the party?"

"For a while. Catching up with friends."

"Sam went down," he says lightly. "Post-patrol rush."

Maria thinks about saying something non-committal, about walking away, about leaving him to his solitude and contemplation. Then she holds his gaze. "You always did prefer to get yours out...differently."

He tenses, and his grip on the railing behind him tightens, biceps flexing, knuckles whitening. "If you start that conversation, Maria, be prepared to finish it."

She wonders what he'd do if she stepped up and cupped him, right here, on the gantry, where anyone could see them. Worked him hard, jerked him to the edge, finished him off in her mouth. The idea is more than a little exciting, and a piercing ache slides through her, wanting satisfaction.

Not this time.

"I'm in one of the guestrooms this way," she says as she steps past him. "Come on."

His hand nearly catches hers as she passes, but she pulls it back. This isn't going to be the kind of relationship where they hold hands in public. She wants him for one thing only, and if he can't deal with that...well, vibrators were invented for a reason.

But at the door, he reaches past her to hold the handle. "Maria—"

She doesn’t look at him, but at the door. “We are not going back to our relationship, Steve. This is for one night only.”

For a few seconds, the only sound is the distant thump of the party beat, the whirr of someone using an electric wrench to undo lugnuts in the bay below, the rasp of his breathing in her ear. Then he crowds her, then, standing in close enough that she can feel the heat pumping off him as he bends down and skims his cheek along the side of her neck. “Am I allowed to negotiate another night another time?”

The soft, almost dirty timbre of his voice strikes sparks in her breasts, in her belly. Maria stifles a quiver, wondering if she’s bitten off rather more than she can chew.

“Getting a callback depends on the performance."

This time, he kisses the join between her shoulder and her neck with an open mouth that makes her shudder and lean back into him; a moment later, his hand slips around her hip and rests flat on her belly. “I’ll see what I can do to make it good, then.”

‘Good’ means letting Maria get his jacket and shirt off almost as soon as they’re inside her room. It means long, slow kisses against the door, Steve’s hips pinning her in place while she gropes whatever she can reach. It means his hands stroking and cupping and rubbing even before he’s gotten her undressed, and his mouth licking and sucking and biting after she’s naked until her knees give out.

‘Good’ means helping Maria to the bed and letting her touch him, tease him, taste him until he drags her away. It means a deep and sweeping kiss so Steve can thoroughly explore the taste of him in her mouth. It means his fingers circling her wrists so she can’t finish him off as he breaks off and asks, hoarsely, “Condom?”

“Bathroom bag,” she says, and Steve lays her down in the sheets and strides off to find one.

It takes a few seconds longer than she expects – long enough that Maria starts to wonder if he needs help—but no. And maybe bringing the packet of condoms out is presumptuous, but at this point, she doesn’t care.

Everything is a pulse and an ache, and she wants to climb him like a tree and fuck him like her own personal sex toy.

Maria watches Steve ‘suit up’, then reaches out and rubs the length of her hand against the hang of his balls.

Steve stifles a moan, pulling her hand away and pushing her down into the mattress. His gaze fires as she spreads her thighs in invitation.

“Be good.”

“Aren’t I always?”

He shivers. His jaw clenches and he swoops down on her, the heat of his mouth like a brand on her skin as he stretches himself out on top of her. Then he teases her with kisses for what seems like aching hours before he fits himself into her, grinding deep with little thrusts that don’t stop even when he’s fully inside her

Maria gasps at the exquisite pleasure of those small movements, tiny storms of sensation rippling through her body and blotting out thought. She’s stretched and sensitive—and so close—But Steve is taking his time although she kisses and grips and claws and nips—

And watching her with a dark expression on his face, a febrile flush riding high across his cheeks as he torments her with exquisite control...

“Hurry up,” she demands, so desperate for release that she claws at his shoulders and buttocks and spine, trying to get the _more_ that her body aches for— “Steve!”

“I’m making this last,” Steve murmurs. “God, I’ve missed you—”

He makes a choked noise and suddenly he’s moving the way she wants – long deep thrusts and lovely friction, with the nip of his teeth in the sensitive join of her shoulder and throat—

Yes. Oh,  _yes_ .

Maria feels him follow mere moments after, the twitch of his hips, the breathless grunt he makes deep in his chest.

She likes the way he collapses against her afterwards – she always did. Like she’s fritzed him, fused him, fried him, his circuits entirely blown from sex with her.

But this is temporary. One night only.

She doesn’t want more – not this time. She can’t afford more.

And yet...

Steve gets up to dispose of the condom, and comes back to the bed with a warm, damp cloth for her to clean herself with. Then he takes it from her hand, tosses it back through the bathroom door without looking, and slides back beneath the covers like it’s his right to gather her in. Like this isn’t a quick release for both of them.

“Steve,” she begins and sees the hard resolve in his eyes a moment before his lashes shutter and his mouth closes over hers—

The siren of her phone alarm shrills through the air.

Saved by the bell.

Steve frowns as Maria climbs out of bed and silences the alarm. “I thought— The first flight out doesn’t leave until 0530—”

“I’m having breakfast with Izzy.” Maria doesn’t wait for him to start moving, but reaches for her discarded hair tie and pulls her hair back into a ponytail. Better to be out of his reach. “She’s just off the night shift...”

“Ah.” He hesitates, then slides out of bed and starts to get dressed.

She knows he's sulking, but she told him how it was going to be at the start. “I said one night only.”

“You did.” His tone is utterly reasonable and yet manages to convey his offended sensibilities as clearly as if he’d accused her of outright lying to him.

Maria doesn't sigh, but starts packing her odds and ends into her luggage. She doesn't have time to coddle him, and he knew the score at the start of the night.

Going into the bathroom, she picks up her cosmetics bag. Having only had the room for a few hours, there's not much to collect. She arrived, took a nap, freshened up, and had the meeting before going to the party. Pretty much everything is still packed.

Steve's dressed and standing by the bed, holding out the strip of condoms with an expression that seems oddly blank. "You'll want these," he says. When she reaches for them, grabs her hand and pulls her into a kiss. Maria doesn’t resist because she wants the goodbye; maybe she can’t let herself go back, but at least she can leave with a good memory.

Of course, Steve doesn’t want it to end here. He angles his cheek against hers. "Will you be back in Hong Kong anytime soon?"

"No." She is steel and he can’t change her mind, but she still brushes her fingers along his jaw, not quite rough with five o'clock shadow. "Let this go, Steve."

He stiffens. "The way you let me go?"

"Can we not go over this again, please?"

"I'm not convinced we went over it the first time..."

Maria sighs.

Steve cuts himself off. His head drops for a moment, but he doesn’t step away. Instead he bends and kisses her, a soft and lingering kiss that somehow encapsulates goodbye. Maria shivers as he cups her cheek, wary of another attempt to draw her in, but after a moment he draws back, exhales, then steps back. "I'll leave you to your breakfast, Maria."

The corridor is blessedly empty, meaning there's no need for subterfuge. Steve simply steps out and makes for the entrance to the gantry, pausing to look back only once — a long, considering look — before he shakes his head and goes out onto the gantry.

The door closes behind him and their failed relationship.

Maria lets out the breath she was holding and prepares for Izzy and a twelve hour flight to Anchorage. No point in a nap now, but she's definitely going to sleep on the flight.


	4. biology

Maria’s first stop in the L.A. Shatterdome is to report in to Fury, who’s just finishing off a call with the Secretary-General of the PPDC when she walks in.

Considering his door was open, she doesn’t figure she’s hearing anything that he didn’t want overheard; Fury may not always be right, but he’s nothing if not thorough.

“...will be on the roster within a month, Alex. You can’t demand what we don’t have – or, at least, you can’t expect to get it. _Stiletto_ will be out on patrol just as soon as we have the pilots hooked up to her.” Fury meets Maria’s eye, and looks briefly up at the ceiling in exasperation. “Alex. The Drift psychs and Jaeger techs have one and all told me the Jaeger’s a she. The historians have told me a stiletto is an assassin’s knife, not just a lady’s shoe. I’m going to go with their take on it. If we end up with a couple of male pilots who can’t take being known as a high-density blade because it might get confused with a silver slipper, then we’ll deal with it then. You let me play politics with the PPDC masses, and I’ll leave you to navigate the thin air and fragile egos up your way.” He snorts. “Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it.”

Exchanging closing pleasantries, he hangs up, tosses the phone on the desk, leans back in his chair, and exhales. “Welcome back, Hill.”

“Thank you, sir. Fun with Pierce again?”

“It never stopped. Right now, it’s that new Jaeger that’s been causing headaches back and forth across the Pacific.”

“I thought it’s just about ready to go out. Have the pilots been selected yet?”

“That’s one of the headaches.” Nick rubs at his temple. “I swear this was easier when we were building the Mark IIs. Even the Mark IIIs didn’t cause this kind of trouble.”

“Too much knowledge?”

“Too many fingers in the pie and people who won’t leave well enough alone,” he growled. “And that includes Alex, who thinks that he should get to veto the final pilot choice. Which isn't up to him since the general agreement was to let the Drift integration with the Jaeger be the final word on the pilots. Anyway, are you settled in yet?”

“I have my quarters and my baggage. Saw a few faces around the Shatterdome; haven’t been able to greet anyone yet.” Maria shrugs as she seats herself. “I figure I have forty-eight hours before I need to be tuned in.”

“You have thirty-six.”

Maria looks at Fury. Fury looks back. “If I had the time to spare you, I would. I don’t, so I can’t. You’ve got time off for this Stark Industries award thing that Potts is doing in a few days and you haven’t asked for extra time off to recover, so I’m trusting that you’ll manage it between your roster considerations. Shatterdome meetings are Friday 1400 hours, stand-up in the Jaeger maintenance bay. You know the deal: anyone can attend, but issues are brought up by team leaders or shift commanders.”

“I remember.”

“Of course you do. In the meantime, go catch up with your mob.”

Maria's ‘mob’ are the women and men with whom she began work in the PPDC – her ‘yearmates’ of a sort. They were close when she left L.A., fully supported her against the media and the attention, and they’re glad she’s back, happy to catch up, but...they’ve changed. She’s changed.

The girls at Hong Kong became her backstop in those two and a half years between then and now, and while her friends in L.A. are still friends, there’s a reserve and a distance. They've changed, too.

Jasper was always a bit snobbish, but now, he’s snide.

“So you’re back from Hong Kong intending to hobnob with the rich and famous now?” When Maria looks blankly at him, Jasper elaborates. “The Stark Industries Fundraiser on Friday?”

“It’s an internal awards night.”

“And yet you wrangled an invitation. And are getting an award?” Jasper glances up from his tablet and pushes his glasses up his nose. “Thinking about jumping ship?”

Maria bites her tongue and simply reiterates, “Not yet,” just as she has so many times before.

Alan was always droll and teasing, and still takes pleasure in both.

“So, after two years you return to us...just as Rogers and his new co-pilot are assigned to L.A. Shatterdome. Coincidence? I think not!”

Maria snorts. “I had the transfer request in long before Yuna and Pang decided they wanted to be closer to home and asked for a pilot pairing on the East side willing to swap.”

She doesn’t blush at the mention of Steve, but she does feel a little warm in her chest. And maybe Alan can see something that others don’t, because all he says is, “And if I asked Rogers about his decision to return, would he also say that your posting here didn’t play a part?”

“I can’t speak for him,” she says, levelly. “But I imagine his co-pilot might have had some skin in the game.”

At least Akela understands.

“You’ve grown into someone else in the meantime,” Akela comments. “It’s not surprising after everything you've been through.”

They’re cooling off with a walk through the training rooms after a match on the Kwoon floor where Maria defeated Akela with surprising ease. “Doesn’t everyone change over two years?”

“Change? Yes. Grow? No.” Akela’s watching the fights they pass, her eye on form and style, calculating capacity and capability and Drift compatibility as she goes. That’s her job as a Kwoon instructor – to improve pilots’ physiolinguistic understanding of each other so they’ll work together better in the Conn Pod of a Jaeger when they have to fight. “You were always measured and considering in Kwoon, you know. But now you take risks – calculated risks, like that underhand sweep you tried. It’s not better or worse, just...different.”

“Is that why you lost? You were trying to fight the person I was?”

Akela snorts. “No. I lost because you’ve also gotten a lot sneakier along the way. You don’t telegraph your actions as openly as you used to.” She massages her fingertips through the twists of hair springing up over her scalp, then has to wipe her hand on the end of the towel. “That’s not a criticism, by the way, just an observation.”

Criticism or observation, Maria _feels_ different. Not quite like her skin doesn't fit, but as though she can feel all manner of things shifting.

Or maybe that's just the new prescription for her birth control.

–

"Stark Industries make," Betsy Ross says as she injects the implant. "Same type as the one you got last time – a five year run – but the research suggests the side-effects are less debilitating. They're looking at rolling out the changes out to the pill later this year, along with a male pill and contraceptive injection." She smiles. "Amazing what's possible when you put a woman in power."

Maria didn’t realise SI had a biomedical division.

“We bought up a small biomedical company a few years back,” Pepper says when Maria mentions it at the awards night.

They’re out on a balcony getting some air, the salt of the breeze off the ocean mingling with the steel and oil of the L.A. Shatterdome while the party continues on inside the hotel ballroom. The dinner has been served, the speeches given, the presentations made. Now it's time for mingling and chatting, some dancing, some drinking, and plenty of socialising.

Frankly, Maria's surprised that Pepper made it out here without anyone spotting her, but apparently she went to the toilet and found a way to sneak around the side of the ballroom to join Maria out here on the balcony. Just as well that Maria brought out a spare martini.

“Since then we’ve been working with U-Gin Biomedical to improve a number of medical outcomes for women. The research head at U-Gin Biomedical is a director of the company, holds a 25% stake, and is the daughter of the founder, so she’s got both influence and self-interest going for her.” Her smile is sly as she nudges Maria. “You’d like Helen. She also doesn’t let anyone get in her way.”

“I let the bureaucracy get in my way on the matter of the Stinger technology.”

Pepper gives her a look, drains the rest of her martini, and puts it down on the low table beside them. “That’s like saying I let Obi pass bad technology on to the Jaeger Program. It’s wrong and it’s...it’s stupid.”

“Stupid?”

“Yes. And you know it is. Because there’s only so much we can do.”

“Says the CEO of Stark Industries.” But Maria’s teasing as she says it.

“Even I’m limited by the Board of Directors, the shareholders, and Tony. Although it helps that Tony’s busy with the program these days.”

Maria surveys the interior of the hotel ballroom, filled to the brim with Stark Industry employees, managers, department heads, and directors, including Tony and Rhodey resplendent in dinner dress, making their way through the crowds. Right now, Rhodey's saying something low in Tony’s ear and Tony's looking around the room with the absent-minded focus of someone seeking a person they can't find.

“I think Tony’s looking for you,” she advises Pepper.

Pepper turns to peer back into the ballroom. Her expression tightens a little before she turns back to Maria with a gleam in her eye. "How do you feel about L.A. nightlife?"

It takes her a few seconds to get what Pepper means. "You're going to blow off your own corporate event?"

"Why not? Tony's been doing it for years."

Maria looks at the faint smile on Pepper's lips and feels a matching mischief rising in her. She drains her glass, sets it down on the table and picks up the glittery sequinned handbag that Akela dug up for her – the handbag that now holds the glass statuette of her corporate award – along with the $500 gift voucher. "Where are we going first?"

First is a nightclub where they lounge against the railing and sip martinis while watching the dancers below. "I was never co-ordinated enough for dancing," Pepper says. "Plus, all those people watching, and then...well, once I was Tony's assistant I couldn't do just anything. Usually I had to pull Tony out of his 'doing everything'..."

"I only like dancing among friends," Maria admits.

" _All my girls, we're in a circle and nobody is gonna get through_ —" Pepper warbles untunefully, and Maria drops her cheek onto Pepper's shoulder and giggles. "I know, I can't sing."

"You really can't. But then, neither can I." Maria leans against Pepper's shoulder. "The Jiang twins, now, they can sing whole conversations at each other and anyone they're talking to while piloting _Steel Tiger_."

"Doesn't that get distracting? For the people they're talking to, I mean?"

"Yes. But it's how they Drift. A lot of things can be forgiven for a working Drift and it works out differently for every pilot pairing."

"I thought it was mostly...brain patterns and thoughtwave compatibility."

"You sound like you've been talking to Caitlin Lightcap?"

"Maybe." Pepper intercepts the look Maria gives her. "I was in the Shatterdome about three weeks ago when Dr. Lightcap asked if I'd take one of the EEG tests she'd setup for pilots. And when I pointed out I wasn't a pilot, she said she needed control data, and it would be a good idea to have someone who was outside the range for pilots."

"She was doing the same thing in Anchorage a few weeks back," Maria recalls. The variations in electrical pattern between the Wei triplets in spite of their Drift compatibility had kicked off the Doc's interest in brain patterns, and so she'd gone around getting EEGs from random non-pilot personnel.

"Including you?" Pepper asked when Maria related the Doc's research.

Maria shrugged. In fact, Caitlin had chivvied her into it. "I had some time spare, and Caitlin's research is always intriguing...when I understand any of it."

"Do you find it confusing, too? I didn't understand one word in a dozen either, and I know I'm not stupid. I was just way out of my depth."

"The Doc's just another level. And you're definitely not stupid – you keep up with Tony."

"Speaking of which..." Pepper begins fishing through her purse. "My phone's been buzzing all evening. I imagine I have a dozen messages from Tony after running out on the presentation, and I should probably at least look at them..."

In fact she has four two phone calls and four texts. Given the decrease in time between the texts, Maria judges that Tony is growing increasingly concerned by Pepper's sudden vanishing act. Which is understandable – the guy may be arrogant and presumptuous, as well as charming in a heavy-handed kind of way, but he really does love Pepper. It's kind of...sweet.

After looking through the texts, though, Pepper puts the phone away.

"Not going to answer?"

"No." Pepper's smile is swift and tight. "I don't feel like it."

"This is a new side of you."

"Well, I don't usually have a partner in crime." Pepper nudges Maria’s shoulder companionably. "Although Tony may be tracking us down even as I speak."

Maria looks out at the party as she reaches for her phone. "How long have we been here? An hour? We could move on..."

Then she pauses, because she, too, has a message.

Just one. From Steve _: Hope your evening at SI is going well._

That's the entirety of the message. The timestamp is six hours ago, back at the start of the evening – right around the time he would have been getting ready for patrol.

"Someone checking in on you—?" Pepper's eyes narrow when she glimpses the message. "Are you back with Steve, then?"

"No."

"But you've slept with him, again, haven't you?"

Maria defends her actions. "It was just the once. It's not a relationship."

Never mind that she catches him looking her over every now and then, or that she's thought about that night in Hong Kong more than once when she's seen him around the L.A. Shatterdome.

"But he's here in L.A. and checking in on you on your night out?"

"It's a text, he's not—"

Pepper shakes her head. "I don't want to know. Let's move on."

Apparently she means both conversationally and physically. Twenty minutes later, they're being ushered into an extremely fancy wine bar - the kind where no expense is spared for the patrons. Maria's known about such places, but she's never been to one before.

"I don't think I can afford to sit down in here," she hisses at Pepper as she looks around at the decor and glimpses what the other patrons have on their plates.

"Oh, I dragged you in here," Pepper says as she flags down a server. "I'm paying."

The menu doesn't have prices, so Maria orders a soda and lime. On the other hand, Pepper orders another martini, a bottle of original Coke, and a collection of candy and chocolate that make Maria's eyes pop.

"Sometimes you just want a sugar binge."

"That's not a sugar binge, that's a sugar overdose," Maria protests. But her mouth waters all the same. While production goes on, prices have gone up, and if the war goes for more than five years – which they're rapidly nearing – then many parts of the world are looking at rations. To have all this at once just seems...decadent. And yet...she's weak.

Pepper offers her a Mars bar. "Go halves?"

It blows her mind that she – Maria Hill of Chicago – should be sitting at a table in a high-end bar with a bottle of actual champagne, eating candy like it's twenty years earlier and she's a kid again, hanging out with a friend – who just happens to be the CEO of Stark Industries. Pepper asks about her childhood, growing up on the south side of Chicago, just waiting to be old enough to enlist, and in return tells Maria about her childhood, growing up in small-town Missouri until she got away with a pot-head boyfriend who was ditched in San Francisco before Pepper went down to San Diego.

"Why California?"

"Because that was where the bus was going," Pepper explains. "But not L.A. because the last thing I ever wanted was to be in movies."

"'Anywhere but here'?"

"Exactly."

It's probably only a couple of hours from dawn, there's a litter of candy wrappers tucked into an empty glass, and Maria's beginning to flag. She's about to propose they split and head home when there's a commotion at the door – the bouncer is trying to keep someone out, since they stopped taking people an hour ago. He clearly fails since Tony strides in, Rhodey only a step behind.

"Don't look now," she warns Pepper.

Pepper's mouth tilts in a smile that's almost secretive. "Well, we'd have gotten caught sooner or later." She turns as Tony comes up and nearly launches herself into his arms. "I've had sugar, Tony, " she announces as he catches her. "And now you're going to get sugar, too."

"Pep—" Tony doesn't really get the chance to protest before she kisses him, and Maria feels hot watching them, a flush of embarrassment rising in her cheeks and chest. A glance at Rhodey shows the same rueful embarrassment on his face, even as his shrug indicates that this isn't unusual to him.

She collects her purse from amidst the flutter of candy wrappers. "I'm going to take a cab back— Pepper, thank you for inviting me—"

"Oh, Maria." Pepper doesn't even let go of Tony, just reaches out a hand and leans over to press her cheek to Maria's. "Thank _you_ for coming out. I'll call you tonight – okay?"

Tony carries her out after making eye contact with Rhodey. Considering Rhodey gestures Maria towards the door, she imagines it's something to the effect of _make sure Hill actually gets into a taxi while Pepper's climbing me like a tree_.

"You look like you had fun tonight," Rhodey murmurs as they head for the exit.

"I am extremely wired," Maria says, enunciating carefully. The corridor isn't large, and with Rhodey standing so close she suddenly feels very warm. Or maybe that's the residual embarrassment of watching Pepper come onto Tony like a freight train. "I think it was the sugar."

"Yeah, well, Pepper takes to sugar like an addict to a drug high." Rhodey sounds wry. "Tony'll have his hands full for a while."

There's a distinct note of amused appreciation in his voice, and Maria glances sideways at him, suddenly reminded of Steve in the rec room all those years ago while Bucky and Darcy were in their pilot quarters. Does the Drift flow through to Rhodey from Tony and Pepper the way it did for Steve that night – and the various others that followed?

More to the point, does she want to find out?

When Rhodey turns to look at her, she doesn't look away.

They've flirted some; she enjoys his company when they're in the same space, and she counts him a friend. But she's never really pushed for more – and neither has he. The possibility has been open, if not on the table, but the opportunity has never come up.

The possibility is on the table now, and the opportunity is there. The door is wide open – all Maria has to do is step through...

She doesn't want to.

She likes Rhodey... And yet in spite of the unfurling ache in her belly, the pulse of sensation that's thrumming in her throat and spreading through her body, she doesn't want _him_ like that.

Thankfully, Rhodey seems to get it as the doorman comes around with her coat and his jacket. His mouth quirks in a wry smile as he tips the man and holds out her jacket so she can put it on.

But he waits until she turns around and flips her hair out from her collar before he states, "I'm not going to get lucky tonight or ever, am I?"

"Not with me," she says and truly means it when she adds, "Sorry."

He smiles as he slips on his jacket, the twist rueful but not angry. "We're cool, though, aren't we?"

"Always." Maria rises up on tiptoe and kisses him on the cheek. "Thank you."

"Back at you."

He sees her into a taxi bound for the Shatterdome, and heads out to his own transport home. Maria settles back into the cracked leather and ignores the heavy scent of perfume in the backseat as she tunes out the music the driver is playing on his phone. But in spite of heading home, she feels...tense. Hyped up. Ready for...something. She turns her phone over in her hands as the tingle of her senses becomes a light throb.

Steve and Wilson should have come in off their patrol by now. If they finished on time. If there weren't any issues. If they didn't get stuck out there fighting a _kaiju_ – which, they wouldn't, because otherwise they'd have heard the warning sirens going off... They should be in post-Drift processing now – being taken out of their suits, cleaning up, winding down from the Drift high...

As they crest the hill coming down into the 'dome zone' of the city – the old shipyards – Maria fires off a text.

_What are you doing now?_

She regrets it almost as soon as its sent. He might be asleep. Or on his way out. Or already with a willing and eager Jaegerfly under him...

Her phone pings with a message. _Nothing yet. What about you?_

_On my way back to the Dome. Where are you?_

_Southside rec room._

Maria stares at the message, goosebumps across her skin. The southside rec room is where they got together the first time around.

A few seconds later another message joins the last one. _What's your ETA?_

Is it an accident or intentional? Does he want her to remember how they started? Or is this something else?

Does it matter?

She takes a deep breath and types back. _15 minutes._

_I'll be waiting._

The promise in those three words shivers through her, a charged buzz beneath her skin. She makes it through the rest of the taxi ride, through Shatterdome security, and up into personnel living quarters.

Even at 0400 hours there are people around – working shifts, unable to sleep, even the occasional workaholic on a Friday night. Maria nods at the one or two she recognises and doesn't initiate a conversation with any of them. And she's glad when the last stretch down to the rec rooms is utterly silent, her heels on the concrete floor the only clear sound.

Steve looks away from the TV as she opens the door, and his eyes fire. He turns the movie or show off as she comes in, and his gaze slides over her as intimately as a caress of hands.

"Have a good night?" He says it conversationally, like they've just met for a meal.

"I got an award, Pepper and I went out on the town," she tells him as she closes the door behind her and locks it. "It was...an experience. How was yours?"

He reaches up and draws her down to straddle him, moving forward on the chair so she's firmly seated on his hips and the slow-growing thrust of his erection. Then he presses up against her and brushes his lips across hers as her mouth opens in a gasp. "It's about to get better."

'Better' is one way to put it. He's not rough, exactly, but it's...intense.

And a little odd.

Rousing and roused, still, Maria doesn't feel quite herself. Steve's kisses feel...new, softer, not sharp enough when he uses his teeth. His hands are tentative on her skin, and even the sensation of his thighs bearing up under hers is...wrong. Or, if not wrong, then certainly confusing.

Steve fumbles with her panties, and Maria rubs herself against his finger to ride the wave and suddenly thinks he's slid a finger inside her— but no, not yet. He groans under her mouth as she presses her breasts against his bared chest and rides his hips with swift, eager thrusts, and his hands feel like they're on her spine, urging her on— but no, they're on her hips, stopping her so he can shove his jeans down. She thinks she comes halfway through – that jittering spark fluttering through her flesh unexpectedly early, without any of the usual buildup— but no, when she opens her eyes in surprise, she's back to not quite there.

He presses his face into her throat as he finishes in her, and Maria jerks at the rough prickle of a beard against her skin. When she rears up in shock, Steve is blinking at her, his eyes still unfocused, lips parted as he pants. "Maria?" His cheeks are flushed and clean-shaven.

Maria smears a kiss into his mouth and feels only smooth skin against her jaw.


	5. simulator

In the ten days leading up to the pilot announcement of the shortlist for _Titanium Stiletto,_ Maria doesn't have time to _breathe_.

For reasons unknown to anyone, Jasper has been pulled from the active list of Floor Commanders. He's not answering his texts or his calls, he's not in his rooms - in fact, nobody's seen him since a week ago and nobody knows why. Not Phil, not Melinda, not Blake, not Akela...

Well, Fury knows, but he just tells Maria that Jasper's alive and to stay out of this.

In the meantime, Chandra Arjasthan is in the process of transferring in from Sydney, but there's been a problem with her visa - something about not clearing the proper processes the last time she left - and she won't be in L.A. until that's cleared up. So the Floor Commanders are all taking on extra shifts, joking about how they daydream of sleep, managing the ins and outs of Jaeger repairs and maintenance.

There are journos all over the Shatterdome right now, thanks to the new Jaeger. They stick microphones or cameras in people's faces, trying to sneak in places where they shouldn't, generally being a nuisance. Of course, in spite of the request that Shatterdome workers don't feed the animals, some of them love chatting about anything and everything that might be of interest to 'the public'.

It is possibly the worst time for Maria to start an affair back up with Steve.

But he's in her room when she's finished a shift, strong hands with a slow massage for the ache in her neck - and the ache between her thighs. She texts him when he's come off patrol and they spend the hours until dawn fucking each other until it’s all Maria can do to kick him out of the bed. They hook up in meeting rooms and rec rooms and odd offices, but engage politely and courteously in public like there's nothing between them at all.

Sometimes Maria wonders if she's completely lost her mind. Their sexual encounters are almost dreamlike, with no acknowledgement that they even happen after one or the other leaves the room.

Well, there's the flat and faintly frowning looks that Sam Wilson gives her when she encounters him in the hallway, but they don't count.

And there's Pepper's unvarnished opinion.

"He's going to break your heart again."

"It's just sex."

"It's not just sex. You don't do 'just sex' anymore than I do. But we're not going to talk about it any more."

The dismissal would probably sting more if Pepper brought it up again, but after that she doesn't even mention it. And the truth is that Steve Rogers is a habit that Maria's picked up, and she's just lucky that he's not toxic. She's also lucky that nobody catches them in their clandestine moments - although as the Shatterdome ramps up to the launch of the newest Jaeger, even those become non-existent.

Titianium Stiletto is an absolute beauty of a Jaeger, elegant and vicious, with the latest Stark Tech, the PONS programming personally worked on by Dr. Lightcap, and a big cloud of mystery around the pilot selection.

"Okay, Maria, you've got to know the gossip...what is going on with the pilots?" Pepper asks when she arrives at the Shatterdome the day before the launch. "Tony says they _still_ haven't released the shortlist of names. That's never happened before!"

"I don't know." Maria reaches to grab Pepper's arm before she accidentally walks into the path of a motorized cart, but Pepper's already stopped less than a yard away. Maria continues, "There's a lot of weird stuff going on right now and Fury's doing his best impression of a Sphinx."

"I think that's his _usual_ impression," Pepper says, "but go on."

"The best guess I have is that Alexander Pierce is unhappy about the pilots on the shortlist and has been bollixing it all up."

"And he's still an ass," Pepper glances around as they enter the Shatterdome and head for security to get Pepper her visitor's pass.. "All right. I was hoping you'd know something, but that's not much more than Tony could give me."

Maria grins. Pepper's dismay is palpable. "Sorry to have failed the grapevine."

"It's not like it's crucially important. Are you on any shifts today?"

"I am, but it's the office shift rather than the Shatterdome floor. Once a month admin tasks. I can take a break whenever you've got time for me."

"For you, I'll make time. How about a coffee at 4pm? I have a meeting until 3:30 and at that point I'll want something to take my brain off everything. And Tony is supposed to be coming off patrol around 5pm..."

Maria calculates her day. "I can do coffee this afternoon."

"Let's do it."

—

By midafternoon, Maria is more than ready for Pepper's company.

She's waded through enough paperwork to supply a whole bureaucratic branch of the US government, argued repair options with one of the Jaeger Engineers who seems to think that the only possible reason his ideas keep getting rejected is because someone has a personal vendetta against him, and fucked Steve Rogers in the narrow confines of a cleaning supplies closet when she's on her lunchbreak.

Afterwards, Steve licks the sweat from behind her ear. "We have to stop meeting like this," he murmurs in echo of her thoughts. Of course, then he drops to his knees and licks his semen and her juices from her thighs. Maria strokes her fingers through his hair, gasping briefly when he teases her clit on the way back up.

"You're not making it easy to resist," she protests as she zips herself up and tries to set her uniform to rights.

"I thought the point is to be hard to resist." Steve leans back against the door to block her way out. "Maria... What are we doing?"

"We're not talking about this now."

Maria can almost hear his teeth grinding. "Are we ever going to talk about it at all?" He steps forward, catching her shoulders in his hands. "Look, this was a one-night stand when I was in Hong Kong and you were in Anchorage, but it's not a one-night stand anymore and we both know it."

No, it's not a one-night stand, or even a series of them. They know too much of each other, have too much history for this to be casual. And Pepper's right: Maria doesn't do 'just sex' - and neither does Steve, if it comes to that. But he's not willing to put up with a quick fuck before sneaking out when what he wants is to walk around, claimed and claiming in the sight of God and Shatterdome, and she's not willing to stake her professional reputation on him a second time, which leaves them at an impasse.

"It’s this or nothing, Steve. I can’t do public - not like before."

She doesn't elaborate on her refusal; Steve knows her well enough to be aware that she means it. He drops his gaze. Then, after a moment, he leans in and brushes his lips past her cheekbone. His sigh as a regretful caress down her throat before he steps back.

"I wish I knew how to give you up, Maria."

Then he opens the door and slips out, leaving her in the closet with the scent of sex still hanging in the air and the lingering thought that she wished _she_ knew how to give _him_ up.

The rest of the afternoon is more or less a bust. Maria gets a few things done, but they're minor and nowhere near to what she wanted to complete by the end of the day. Distracted and woolgathering, there's about half an hour to go before she has to meet Pepper for afternoon tea, when Fury calls her to come down to the simulator rooms.

"Hill, we need a stand-in for a simulator dry run."

"And you picked me, sir? I'm honored. What's wrong with your brain?"

"Apparently nothing, except that it doesn't meet the parameters that they're looking for. According to Doc Lightcap's recent brain pattern testing, you do. So come on down, Hill. You're the next contestant on The Brainscan Is Right!"

Maria arrives down at the simulator rooms to find Fury chatting with Carol Danvers and Maria Rambeau, the pilots of _Marvel Avenger._ He doesn't stop, but gestures her towards the cluster of technicians who are fussing around the simulator pod, and with a sigh, she goes over, and is promptly brain-netted into the pod, her hands and feet looped into the straps that roughly imitate the Conn Pod connections between pilots and Jaeger.

"You're not claustrophobic are you, Commander?" One of the Koenigs - she's never worked out the difference between them and is not certain that there _is_ a difference - peers down at her. "Because we have to seal the pod for the simulation to work properly - you'll still be able to hear us from the outside, of course..."

"We'd like to run a quick simulation - _Marvel Avenger_ 's last battle against a _kaiju_." Another Koenig is tapping away at a console like his life depends on it. "The plan is only up to the engagement point, of course - I mean, unless you want to go through the actual fight..."

Maria can hear conversations taking place in the room beyond - Doc Lightcap is here?

"Am I being hooked into Drift with someone else?"

"Uh..." One thing about the Koenigs is that they're terrible liars. "Not the full Drift. Just the light version. Compatibility purposes..."

She's starting to feel like there's something not entirely above-board about all this. "But who—?"

He's already hit the close button on the pod lid, and although she could stick her hand out and block it, Maria resigns herself to...whatever is going on. There are 'emergency ejection' buttons if she wants to end the simulation, but...she's curious what this is all about. And there's no harm in running through the simulation and seeing...

The soft glow of the pod around her indicates that the simulation is starting, and they're initiating the Drift. This isn't the full immersion into the mind of another person that allows Drift partners to pilot a Jaeger, this is just the matching of her brainwaves to a simulator, and the brainwaves of the person in the other pod to a simulator, and the simulator calculating the 'Drift connection' between them and making the 'Jaeger' representation react accordingly.

It's not a bad way to train recruits up to where they need to be, but it's also not a patch on actually Drifting. Or so Maria's heard. She's never Drifted with anyone before...

The simulation opens with a brief explanation of what's happened – Aketeko is on its way to Seattle, a _kaiju_ that looks a little like a blue-brown hand: two legs, two arms that it likes to use for balance and some kind of 'tentacle' on the back of its head that it uses as a club. The parameters of the Jaeger come up, and the explanation that she and the other person in their 'Conn-Pod' will be working together to operate the Jaeger, and that their combined interaction will power the Jaeger.

As the Jaeger moves out into the water - an automatic movement, not requiring her interaction, Maria tries the communication headset. But there's nothing but crackling static on the line.

"I think there's an issue with the comms unit," she tells the monitoring team, not sure if they can even hear her.

There's a pause. "Noted," comes the response from a Koenig. "Thanks. Just...just carry on, though."

"When I can't communicate to my co-pilot?"

Another pause. "Just...just try it."

Maria rolls her eyes, but starts to get the hang of the Jaeger's stride and at the encouragement of the simulator, moves her arms and legs in time with the Jaeger's apparent steps. She lifts one hand to test the 'power punch' that's one of _Marvel Avenger_ 's key moves, and _feels_ the interface moving fluidly, without the kind of resistance that would be expected if her co-pilot wasn't in the move with her. The barrelling glow of the shot is blinding in the small confined space, and Maria blinks, then focuses on the oncoming shadow of the _kaiju_ that's swimming towards them in the churning water. She - _they_ \- move to intercept it, the interface giving no resistance as they step through the water, adjusting for the buffeting ocean currents and the weight of the Jaeger.

"Uh... Commander? You're... You don't have to go in for the fight..."

Disappointment rushes through her, she was enjoying the fluidity of this simulation. The interface has changed a lot since the last time she ran one of these; the resistance is considerably less - almost negligible, in fact - and she wouldn't mind the fight...

"Okay. So...your co-pilot is willing to continue the simulation if you're okay with it."

There's a moment when Maria thinks that this is ridiculous, what is she doing here? What could ever make her think that she could fight a _kaiju_ , even in a simulation... She stifles that thought – they’re here, it’s just a simulation, it’s not _real_ – and she sets her jaw. "Let's do it."

The _kaiju_ is coming in fast and hard, and the best option in this Jaeger would be to meet it head on. _Marvel Avenger_ is made to pack a punch, to go head-to-head in an all-out, knock-down, drag-away fight; that's what Danvers and Rambeau did when they fought Aketeko. But when the _kaiju_ closes in for the kill, rather than punching with full force, Maria turns so the blow aimed at her midsection glances off, and knocks the creature aside. The blow stuns it a little, but _kaiju_ can take far more damage than that, and it's already turning.

Maria steps to evade it, dropping back rather than closing in. There's still very little resistance to her movements, so clearly her co-pilot had the same idea. And the beast starts to close in with them.

They trade blows - a long drawn-out fight that's going to get them nowhere. And as it screeches at them and tries to bite Avenger's arm, a germ of an idea forms in Maria's head. She wishes she had her co-pilot on the line; it would make co-ordinating this move a whole lot easier - they've been pretty in sync before this, but this is going to be a big departure from anything the Academy taught...

A hard jab with the free hand, and a shove with the captured hand releases the Jaeger's arm and throws Aketeko off balance. It stumbles back, then screams and comes for them again. But Maria's already lifted their left hand, closed in the fist that charges the blast, and thrusts both hand and the blast forward and up, slamming the fist into the creature's mouth and sending both physical punch and concussive blast up into the skull like a boxing uppercut.

It's...easier than she expects, because there's no resistance from the interface - not a bit. She and her co-pilot are in near-perfect accord in this, and the high of knowing that they're doing this together is beyond anything Maria's ever felt.

Nothing happens for a moment or two, so it seems. Aketeko stands in the sea, swaying gently from side to side. Then it collapses into the water with a great splash and doesn't move again, its brain jellified by the punch and the blast.

The simulator coolly announces their victory over the _kaiju_ , and Maria grins. Success is a rush, an orgasmic satisfaction, and as the canopy of the simulator pops open, Maria whoops and nearly propels herself out of the capsule—

On the other side of the simulator, Pepper is climbing out of the co-pilot capsule, her hair sticking to her neck, her delight in the achievement as clear to Maria as Maria's own exhilaration. Then she sees Maria, and surprise widens her eyes.

"Maria?"

"Pepper?"

They speak at the same time, disbelief and confusion and a slow-growing comprehension.

Maria turns to look at the room, wanting answers.

Doc Lightcap is studying the brainscan readouts of the simulation with the Koenigs, and Sergio D'Onofrio is now standing with Danvers and Rambeau. Danvers flicks Maria a smiling salute as Rambeau gives Pepper a tight smile and a swift nod of reassurance. But Maria's looking for the man she’s always trusted to shoot straight with her, and finds him standing to the side with an expression both satisfied and rueful.

Frustration tinges her voice as she addresses Fury. "With all due respect, sir, what the fuck is going on?"

–

On the way to Fury's office with not only Fury, but also Doc Lightcap and Lieutenant D'Onofrio, Maria notices that she and Pepper have matched steps. Not just walking in stride together, but walking _in sync_. And when she glances at Pepper, Pepper's looking back at her.

"You didn't know."

It's not a question, but a confirmation. "It never occurred to me..." Not that it should have. After all, Drift compatibility is a rarity as it is, and with a graduating year full of cadets, all of who've been tested and tried in every dimension imaginable, why would the PPDC look anywhere else for pilots? "And yes, that was _Avenger_ 's fight against the _kaiju_ last week."

Pepper frowns as she drops one step behind so a couple of LOCCENT techs can pass them. "I didn't vocalise that question."

Maria blinks and half-turns to protest - she'd swear she heard Pepper ask the question - then sees D'Onofrio's smirk and thinks better of it as she steps into the office.

"Let me start by saying this wasn't my idea," Fury says as soon as the door closes. "It was Lieutenant D'Onofrio's suggestion, taken up by the Doc."

D'Onofrio shrugged. "I saw you two sparring in the Kwoon at Anchorage eight months ago and although neither of you had intensive Kwoon training, you were doing really well against each other. So...I made a few inquires and recruited a few people..."

"The EEG you requested of me," Pepper turns to Doc Lightcap. "That was part of this."

"One small part." The Doc drops her gaze to her tablet, her cheeks a little pink as she opens a file and hands the tablet to Maria. "Sergio noted your compatibility in the Kwoon, and if that had been all, we'd never have taken it this far. But if you'll swipe the screen..."

There's the playlist that Maria picked for her arrival in the Lima Shatterdome. Apparently Pepper picked one, too—

"Someone handed me a tablet and told me to choose songs for a party," Pepper says, leaning over Maria's shoulder to scroll through the playlist. "Queen, _I'm Still Standing,_ _Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves_... You chose the same things?"

"Evidently." There are only two songs that they've chosen differently - Pepper chose Sheryl Crow's _Always On Your Side,_ and Maria chose Carrie Underwood's _Before He Cheats._ Which...Maria is not going to think too hard about that right now, because such a thought leads places she's trying not to go - not after this morning with Steve.

Oh, God. _Steve..._

"Tony's going to lose his mind," Pepper murmurs. She swipes without asking Maria, and noisy music suddenly blares from the tablet speakers.

"Oh!" Doc Lightcap reaches for the device. "You can turn it down—"

Maria's already reached for the volume control, because the conflicting music is disconcerting - although not as disconcerting as the two figures moving in precise synchronisation at two separate parties.

"That's..." Pepper looks at her. "That looks like Hong Kong."

"It is. When was it for you?"

"I... I think it was the same night. There was a tailgate party as I was heading back from _Patriot_ 's tech centre, and our head of Jaeger Engineering was there and challenged me to a dance-off..." She stares at the screens, where Maria has just realised she's being videoed and has waved at Melinda. "You called me afterwards."

And then resumed an affair with Steve in the post-patrol rush...at the same time that Tony came off-duty and dragged Pepper away...

 _We've been drifting for a while,_ she thinks, and Pepper glances up as though she heard the thought.

"I guess it explains a few things," is all the other woman says.

The EEG patterns are a match, and then there's simulation results.

"Ninety-seven percent match," Sergio says. "There are some Jaeger pilots who don't get as high a match. Admittedly, these are just indicators but, as Maria knows, this is about half of the basic tests that we put pilot potentials through at the Academy, and the pair of you have aced every one.”

"All right," Maria says, handing the tablet back. "You've made your point. We're Drift compatible."

"What do you want of us?" Pepper looks at Fury. "You can't possibly want us to drive the new Jaeger - I mean, I'm not even trained!"

Fury steeples his hands in front of him as he leans back in his chair, rocking a little. The post is classic Fury - navigating what he thinks of as delicate territory. “With the exception of Barton and Romanov, we’ve got a lot of kids in the new range of Conn-Pods right now. They’re young and enthusiastic and Drift compatible, but they’re also...young and enthusiastic and Drift Compatible.”

“They'll mature with time - if they get the the time to mature, but we thought that maybe another mature-age pair would even the balance.” Sergio shrugs. “The two of you have experience and knowledge of how the PPDC works and how a Shatterdome and a Jaeger runs. You're also adults who already have a strong sense of yourself and who you are - which is important when you go into the Drift. And...it helps if you're friends.”

“ _Titanium Stiletto_ has been tested with two other pilot pairings so far.” Fury’s mouth pulls into a flat, sardonic line. “The results were decent but not spectacular."

"Frankly, the Jaeger isn't responding in the ranges we expected," Doc Lightcap says, her voice light and mellifluous as she tucks a strand of hair behind one ear. "You both know the theory of Jaeger sentience, don't you?"

Maria recalls the conversation with the Becket brothers on the way to Lima months ago. But Pepper's shaking her head.

"That's a myth, isn't it?" She looks at Maria. "Isn't it?"

"Sometimes there's no explanation for why a Jaeger works better with one set of pilots over another," she says slowly. "Even if the Drift is stronger with one set of pilots, the Jaeger responds better to another set. The explanations for it include the concept of Jaeger sentience."

"It could also be a difference of neuroplasticity," D'Onofrio says, shooting the Doc a twinkling look like it's an inside joke between them. "One set of pilots is just better at Jaeger driving than another."

"But that doesn't explain why that set of pilots performs better with a different Jaeger," the Doc counters firmly, although one corner of her mouth tilts upwards. "Which is beside the point. The point is that you're Drift compatible, and we'd like to try hooking you up to _Titanium Stiletto_."

They look at each other, watching the other's thoughts flicker across her face and feeling it like her own. Wonder and surprise and understanding are there, terror and uncertainty and disbelief, too. But there’s also the growing thrill of realisation. Even if they don't take the Jaeger, they've been given a gift beyond anything they would ever have expected: a friendship that they didn't expect but which they took and held onto in and out of crises and years.

 _It's not the Jaeger that makes you feel three hundred feet tall,_ Pentecost said once, _it's the bond. There's nothing like it - the knowledge that one person knows you inside and out and has your back and that together you could take on hell. And the truly terrifying bit is that you could take on hell...and you could win._

"Well, I don't know if we could take on hell," Pepper says, a faint smile twitching her lips. "But I wouldn’t mind giving the Jaeger a try... Let's do it."


	6. the drift

_Titanium Stiletto_ is still shiny and new, the paint unscraped, the metal untarnished. And yet Maria has never found the inside of a Jaeger Conn Pod so intimidating before.

Then again, she’s never imagined she’d ever be in a position to drive one.

Suited up and fastened into the harness that will translate their movements to the Jaeger itself, Maria has to remind herself to breathe.

"Sorry," Pepper says wryly from the other harness, where Doc Simmons is just activating the monitor pads that both women are wearing for this test. "I think that might be me. The breathing thing, I mean."

Down at Maria’s feet, Doc Fitz pauses as he adjusts the boot clamps to fit Maria’s boots, confusion in his eyes and a slight frown wrinkling his forehead. "What breathing thing?"

"I think the Commander asked a question in the Drift," Doc Simmons tells him as she types commands into her tablet. "And Ms. Potts answered her out of it."

"Right." Fitz shakes his head and his curls bounce as he turns his attention back to his work. "Pilots."

Across the Conn-Pod, Pepper looks at Maria. "Does it get any less weird as time goes on?"

"Actually, it doesn’t," says Fitz before Maria can answer. He climbs to his feet and hooks his power tool on his belt. "At least, not for the rest of us. It might look different from inside the Drift."

"Well," says Simmons cheerfully, "everything’s in place and you’re ready and rocking! Skye?"

"Yeah it’s all looking good on this side. All green, all happy."

"Great! You’re good to go, Rangers! Uh...Ranger and... You know what, forget I said anything."

Fitz isn’t quite as upbeat, but his smile is earnest. "Good luck."

"And don’t forget not to chase the RABIT! "

The two of them are the last to leave the Conn-Pod, and the door is sealed closed behind them, the locks engaging with a metallic clang. While this is just a test, everything is being done as though it’s the real deal. Which means it’s just the two of them, and in a minute, they'll be told that the neural bridge is being activated and the Jaeger patched through. Then they'll see whether all this is just someone’s flight of fancy, or whether they’re actually able to pilot a Jaeger.

"You guys ready to go?" Lieutenant D’Onofrio asks from LOCCENT, where he’s overseeing the test. Fury is in the room but still on active duty, needing to be available to step away should a _kaiju_ come through the breach. "Caitlin, how’s the readings?"

"All readings coming through sharp and clear. Jaeger connection is active and secure. we’re green for the PONS and ready for the neural bridge."

"All right, looks like there'll be no better time to do this—"

"Uh, actually, I have a better time for this," says a new voice on the line, anger shading every syllable. "How about _never_?"

Maria closes her eyes against the sudden rush of Pepper’s nervousness. It would have been too much to hope that they'd get through the test without Stark putting his five cents in, although she’d hoped that they'd at least get to Drift before they had to answer a barrage of questions.

She’s a little surprised that Steve didn’t come looking for her. The news of her Drift compatibility with Pepper was through the Shatterdome maybe thirty minutes after they walked out of the simulation, and there were innumerable people who just happened to be in Operations Central when she and Pepper emerged from Fury’s office on their way to be suited up. Steve wasn’t one of them. Then again, after this morning, maybe that’s not so surprising.

But Stark’s presence - and his anger - is agitating Pepper, and even as Maria reaches out to open communication with LOCCENT to ask that Stark be removed, Pepper has pressed the communications switch. "Tony."

"Pepper, what’s all this about? Why didn’t you say anything? If they rushed you into this—"

"Nobody rushed me into anything, Tony." Pepper stares in front of her for a moment, then she looked at Maria and set her shoulders. "We’re trying this, and I need you to step back."

There’s a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line. Then, "‘ _We_ ’ are trying this?" Stark says pointedly.

"Well, I’m certainly not in here alone." Pepper’s voice is crisp and the undertones of love and exasperation and fear are as clear to Maria as if they were her own. "Please, Tony. I need to— I want to do this."

A few more seconds pass silently – someone’s taken their finger off the communications button so whatever’s being argued isn’t being transmitted through. Maria exchanges a look with Pepper and presses her communications switch. "Rhodey? Are you there?"

"Yeah, I’m here. we’re talking." There’s a murmur of voices in the background – not just Tony and Rhodey, Caitlin and Sergio, but she can hear Fury’s sardonic inflections, and...Steve? Asking if Tony is Pepper’s lover or her keeper—

Rhodey cuts in again. "We’re being escorted out. I’m handing you back to LOCCENT, you’re all clear. Good luck, Pepper, Maria."

"Well," says D’Onofrio, "now that we’re back... Are you still green to go?"

"We’re green." They say it together, and turn to look at each other and grin. In spite of Tony’s protests, in spite of the knowledge that there’s opposition to them even trying this, they’re together and they’re going to do this.

"All right. Engaging pilot to pilot protocol. Fifteen seconds to neural handshake. Good luck, Rangers."

The timer begins counting down, and Maria watches it count down to twelve, then takes a deep breath. "I don’t think I’m ready for this."

"I can’t imagine anyone’s ready the first time," Pepper comments with a laugh.

" _3...2...1..._ " The Drift AI has a female voice that sounds just a little sardonic. " _Neural bridge initiated..._ "

They say that Drifting is about being able to share yourself with someone else - about trust and connection and openness. Maria doesn’t know about that. What she _does_ know is that the rush of sensation and feeling and memory that flows over her is less like sharing and more like...reliving her entire existence.

At least the emotional portions of it.

_...she is nothing worth noticing, nothing worth giving any attention to...don’t look back in anger – or at all – she shakes the dust of this town from her feet and walks to freedom..._

_...she can do the work but it’s not a challenge - until someone offers her a challenge...that is their job and they’re doing it, and this is her job and she’s doing it – and she’s doing it_ well _..._

_...he didn’t mean it, he doesn’t really mean it, he can’t mean it about her...he didn’t mean it...if he’d meant it he wouldn’t have done this to her..._

_...the strongest woman she knows...but still not good enough, sweet enough, nice enough...the wrong kind of girl...but the best kind of friend..._

_...someone who’s seen her at her worst...and it won’t be the last time they’re down there...._

_...let’s do this..._

It feels like everything in her head is there all at once, and everything in Pepper’s head is also there, and together they step carefully in between the everythings and meet in the middle.

_...this is me...and this is you...and this is us **together**..._

They fit, they match, and it’s like surfing a wave, only Maria’s never surfed - that’s Pepper’s experience of balancing delicately on the board, squealing with delight and terror as she rides the wave in to the sandy shore...

_Is it always like this?_

_You’re asking me? I don’t know any more than you do..._

Then they’re back in their bodies, but also in the body of _Titanium Stiletto_. For a moment, the kinaesthetic sense of having two - no three - no two bodies - is confusing before it settles, and Maria can feel what’s her, what’s Pepper, and what’s the Jaeger they’re both operating.

"Let’s do this," Pepper says, and when Maria turns to look at her friend, there’s an eager light in her eyes – an eagerness that must surely be reflected in Maria’s own, because it feels...not even _right_ just simply _the way things are_.

So they lift their hands and press their palms together, the connected motion sensors reading their movements and translating it into a gesture by the Jaeger. The movement feels easy, natural, with no resistance from the interface. _Titanium Stiletto_ moves with their movements, rivet and girder and spring coil and hydraulic pressure matching joint and muscle and tendon in movement with little to no conflict or confusion about what is intended and what is being done.

They’re in this together, and nothing is going to hold them back.

In the background of Maria’s headset, she can still distantly hear the noises of the LOCCENT, the babble of voices - D’Onofrio asking a question off-mic, Caitlin answering, someone else protesting, another voice joining in... There’s a babble, and then someone’s voice - Skye, the LOCCENT tech - rises over the rest, saying it looks like the Jaeger’s chosen its pilots.

And in the hush after the pronouncement, Maria clearly hears Fury’s mutter of, " _Motherfucker_."


End file.
